Overseas Investors Boosting Floridas Real Estate Market

Politics and the weak dollar are helping to boost foreign interest in Florida real estate.

Florida accounted for slightly more than a quarter of all U.S. sales to international buyers in 2007, according to a National Association of Realtors survey.

In Miami, Lissette Calderon, CEO of the development company NEO, brought in Venezuelan singer Ricardo Montaner as a partner for CIMA, a new, 507-unit luxury high-rise condominium downtown. Plans for the project include European-style hideaway kitchens, a multilingual concierge, international newsstand and lifestyle coordinators to ease buyers’ acclimation to Miami. Calderon says about 75% of CIMA’s buyers are from out of the country — up from 10% to 35% in her earlier projects. Many Latin families, says Calderon, want to diversify their assets or buy a home for their college-age children.

Overseas Sales
A 2007 survey by the National Association of Realtors found that Florida had 26% of all U.S. international sales, followed by California (16%) and Texas (10%). That national survey also found:

» A preference for condos: 22% purchased condos/apartments vs. 12% of domestic buyers

» More all-cash sales: 28% vs. 8%

» Higher-priced purchases: Median sales price of $299,500 vs. $221,900
Foreign Legion: Lissette Calderon, CEO of the development company NEO, says three-quarters of condo buyers at her CIMA development in Miami are foreigners, compared with 10% to 35% with earlier projects. [Photo: Daniel Portnoy]

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